Harvard is trying to build an AI as fast as the human brain

A reconstruction of cortical connectivity Lichtman Lab/Harvard Harvard University has been awarded $28 million (£19m) to investigate why brains are so much better at learning and retaining information than artificial intelligence. The award, from the Intelligence Advanced Projects Activity (IARPA), could help make AI systems faster, smarter and more like human brains. While many computers have a comparable storage capacity, their ability to recognise patterns and learn information does not match the human brain. But a better understanding of how neurons are connected could help develop more complex artificial intelligence. Most neuroscientists estimate that the ‘storage capacity’ for the human brain ranges between 10 and 100 terabytes, with some evaluations putting the number at close to 2.5 petabytes. In terms of functionality, the human brain has a huge range — data analysis, pattern…